1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a phase compensator for multiple horn antenna systems and more particularly to a doubly-ridged waveguide device which acts as an electrical-length equalizer for horn antennas with different physical lengths or aperature sizes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In certain transmitting and/or receiving systems containing a multiplicity or an array of horn antennas, the far-zone radiated fields of any number of those horns, in certain preferred spatial directions, must often be in time phase over a broad frequency band. If all horns in the array are physically identical, the attendant design problem is trivial because in that case the designer would only have to ensure that all transmission lines connected to the horns and that all components therein are essentially identical in length and cross- section. But, where two or more of the horns are substantially different in length and/or aperture size and when operation over broad frequency band widths is required, obtaining the corresponding phase equality of the far-zone radiated fields is not nearly so simple or obvious, nor has an adequate solution to the aforementioned problem been proposed until the development of the unique present invention.
The unique device of the present invention effectively solves the phase compensation problem for a pair of horn antennas of different physical lengths and/or aperture sizes by precisely equalizing the effective length of the horn antenna systems. Structural variations of the waveguide system connected to the smaller horn is employed. Moreover, the unique waveguide system will permit the antenna system to transmit relatively high peak and average power levels, comparable to those which a standard waveguide can safely handle.